James Nichols
No one is more excited for Tomas Tatar to be back with the New Jersey Devils than Tomas Tatar.
The 33-year-old forward spent last season out west after he turned down a contract offer and ultimately ended up with the Colorado Avalanche.
READ: Tomas Tatar Reveals he Turned Down Devils Offer
Fresh off a new one-year contract to return to New Jersey, Tatar couldn’t contain his excitement upon his return.
“It was awesome. I was very [much] looking forward to this day,” Tatar beamed. “It was a hard day [of work], but very exciting. We put the hard work in today. The first day is always a little grind, but I think everyone was so excited just to do the first day and put it behind us. And I think we did a great job.
“I’m so happy to be back and put this better back on,” Tatar concluded when asked if it felt like he ever left.
Last season didn’t go well for the Slovak forward. Yet, Tatar is adamant he’s going to be better now that he’s back in New Jersey — and for good reason.
“Yeah, last year was very difficult for me,” Tatar explained. “I came very late to North America. I couldn’t really settle until the camp started, and then I had to leave to get my visa done.”
Arriving to North America when he did made it difficult for Tatar to settle in when he arrived in Colorado. As a result, his focus wasn’t in one place which impacted his production on the ice. This past summer, Tatar made sure to take a different approach to free agency.
“Now I wanted to take a very different approach. I wanted to try to sign early, you know, come here. And obviously it was a big bonus that it was the Devils,” Tatar rejoiced. “But, I wanted to come early, settle down, make sure everything is ready, and I can only focus on hockey. Everything worked out very well. That gave me a great [amount of] time to prepare.”
After scoring just one goal and nine points in 27 games with the Avalanche, Tatar was traded to the Seattle Kraken amid his struggles.
He had a better showing with the Kraken, scoring eight goals and 15 points in the final 43 games of the season.
Tatar went on to explain he trained hard this summer and is hoping to rekindle the chemistry he had with Nico Hischier two seasons ago.
“Nico and I are very good friends. That’s a very nice thing when you get a connected with someone like that,” Tatar said. “You don’t really know what the line is going to look like, but it’s a very, very good start. I’m very happy to be and skate along alongside of him. Hopefully we can repeat what we build together. It would be awesome.”
Of course, Tatar spoke just before Dawson Mercer signed the dotted line. It’s assumed that Mercer will round out the second line with Hischier and Tatar. For the first few days, it’s been Kevin Labanc — we’ll see what Sunday brings.
Regardless, when Tatar left the Devils, they were a different mix. Last season, the Devils regressed largely due to the injuries and inexperience in the lineup.
General manager Tom Fitzgerald ensured that wouldn’t happen again this season, and Tatar is excited by the newcomers.
“Yeah, [last I was here] we didn’t really have that much experience, especially in the playoffs. Now these guys who came, they have a lot of experience,” Tatar said emphatically. “So, our main goal is going to be as most possible and most successful you can be.”
He’s back now, but Tatar doesn’t know last year’s Devils. What he does know is the team that finished third in the NHL during the 2022-23 season and made it to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Most of that core is still intact. As one of the Devils’ veterans, Tatar is bringing those expectations back with him, with the goal to make it even further this go around.
“And you know, I’m not going to lie to you, our expectations are high, and we’re going to be wanting to push for the playoffs and be there. So, that’s why we got these [new] guys. In the crucial times and during the playoffs, they can help us the most. So I’m very excited for the season, and you know, hopefully everyone’s ready because we want to push.”
Even the returning Dawson Mercer couldn’t contain his excitement to see Tatar return.
“Whenever you bring in a player like Tatar, it’s just… he’s smiling all the time. He’s happy to be here,” Mercer explained. “Obviously, it was disappointing [last season] when he wasn’t with us. I had an amazing time playing with him and everything. When you bring a guy back like that, you know it means a lot, because we knew what we lost when he left, and to get that back, I think was really, really important for us.”
For more Devils news, visit New Jersey Hockey Now and like our Facebook page.
Follow us on :
@NJDHockeyNow, @JamesNicholsNHL, @NickNatale10
And on Threads:
